Ninja Star
by Yuki-mu
Summary: Hikaru is tired of being privileged. So what will happen when he meets a girl living in poverty? A girl who has never experienced privilege. What will happen when they try to live their lives like the other? Can she teach him to live on the streets? Can he teach her how to act like a rich kid? Disclaimer: I don't own any Ouran bits or pieces.
1. Angel of Poverty

**_Ninja Star_**

**_Angel of Poverty_**

Haruhi Fujioka was slammed into the dirty alley wall. The force of the blow didn't match the physique of her attacker; he was skinny and petite.

Haruhi's head raged. She tried regaining her balance but a knife was quickly pressed to her cheek, the cold metal glinting viciously. "Give me your wallet," the figure commanded. He had a voice that didn't suit him either and his feet were smaller than average.

"Haruhi, come see this!" Voices shouted from beyond the alley. The attacker tensed and pushed harder against Haruhi, knowing he didn't have much time. Haruhi struggled, taking the thug off guard. She twitched her head, causing the knife to slice into the first, thin layer of skin on her cheek. She cried out, more out of shock than pain. The mugger cursed under his breath.

"Wallet, now!" The mugger released his pressure on the knife to Haruhi's face as she reached an arm down to her pocket. This was her chance to scream for help.

"Senpai! Senpai, help!" She screamed over and over. Her attacker threw her against the wall again, muting her screams to whispers. The force of the action caused his hood to slip back. Not enough to completely dispel the shadows around his face or reveal his hair color, but enough to tell that _he _was a _she_.

Seeing her attacker in a literal new light, Haruhi noticed that the girl had a thick, star-shaped scar on her cheek. She also had two different colored eyes; one green and one blue.

"Haruhi!" Both girls' attention was grabbed by a blonde high school boy's frantic scream.

"Senpai, help!" Haruhi screamed, struggling in the shocked girls grasp. Two more boys, one very tall and the other extremely short, swung around the corner. Haruhi's attacker gave up. She quickly released Haruhi and bounded down the alleyway, where the tall boy gave chase.

She ran to the end of the alley where the boy had almost caught up with her. Looking around at the dead-end she noticed, and hopped onto, an old dumpster. From there, she ran and wall-jumped to a window ledge. The gritty window was yellowed and gave no hints as to what was inside. When she tried to pry it open, she came to the conclusion it had been welded shut. She muttered swears under her breath and gave a backwards glance at the victim and friends. _Seven boys_. How could she have known?

She turned back to the wall again and dug her fingers into the space between bricks. She scaled the wall, the soles of her shoes scraping against it with a metal clinking. The hood of her jacket still shading her head. Shading her future.

* * *

What was he doing here? He felt so out of place, like he was missing his other half; Missing Kaoru.

Hikaru leaned against the street light, illuminated by its harsh yellow glow. This was the third night he had snuck out. Crawled out of bed in the late hours of the night, after Kaoru fell asleep. Walked from his house to the beat-up old neighborhoods on the far side of town.

He was getting tired of the privileged lifestyle he had become so used to over the past fifteen and a half years. He wanted to live on the other side of life, to experience struggle. The unforgiving grasp of poverty. It was truly a wish only a naive rich kid would make, but it was his wish nonetheless. He just didn't know how to find it.

Luckily for Hikaru Hitachiin, the experience of a new side of life was about to be delivered to him by the angel of poverty herself. The experience of another lifestyle was standing right behind him.

And she was stealing his wallet.

The girl without a home. The face without a name.


	2. Hikaru Hitachiin

**_Ninja Star_**

**_Hikaru Hitachiin _**

"What is this rich boy doing here?" She mumbled under her breath. She stood in the midnight shadow of a building, observing the son of a famous fashion designer. Flipping through Hikaru Hitachiin's wallet that she had pick-pocketed, she stole some money from it and slipped it into her pocket.

_He's cute. I should go give this back to him. Empty, of course. _She smirked. She walked quietly behind the boy under the street lamp. "Hikaru Hitachiin?" She tried to sound as sweet as possible. He turned at the sound of his name. "I found your wallet," and she held it out for him to take.

He stuffed it into his pants pocket. "How'd you manage to take it so silently?" he asked. His eyebrows rose in question. The girl was taken aback. _There is no way he could have known!_

"What are you talking about? I didn't steal anything!" She assured him, if not a bit too defensively.

"Sure you did, I saw you. I was just wondering how you were so silent in doing so. I didn't even feel you behind me." He looked at her mischievously. She just gaped at him.

"I–It's not my first time," she tried to sound aloof and failed, tripping over her words. This boy was breaking her. He knew how she worked. It was something she had never experienced from an outsider.

Hikaru laughed, and hearing this, the girl lightened up and laughed too. "You're pretty, so I figured I'd give it back."

"How much did you take?" He asked, pulling it out of his pocket and flipping it open. The girl shrugged.

"Some."

"I guess I'm not getting it back, am I?"

"Not a chance." She grinned devilishly. Her two-colored eyes glinted in the moonlight.

"Keep it. It's not like I need it."

"Surprise, surprise, a rich boy out here in rough country? Aren't you a little far from home?"

Hikaru kicked around a plastic bottle on the curb. "I've always had money. I'm just bored with it. Everything is so pristine it's sickening."

"Money, clean clothes, warm food, what a shame," she lamented sarcastically. "You don't know the half of it. If I were you, I'd run right home and climb right back into your Egyptian-cotton sheets, or whatever rich kids sleep on. Forget all about us."

_Everyone else has._

"See? The way you said 'rich kid' like it was a bad thing! I hate that. Everyone does it!" The girl looked at Hikaru with false sympathy. He continued, "I'm just sick of it, you know? I want a change. I want to work for my food, to steal to survive. I want an adventure. I'm tired of everything being handed to me," he kicked the bottle hard making it clunk down the street.

"Wait right here, I'll be back!" The girl called. Before Hikaru knew it she was pulling herself onto the roof of the nearest building.

He did a double take. _Did she just scale the wall? In sneakers?_


	3. I'll Call You Star

**_Ninja Star_**

**_I'll Call You Star_**

"Wait!" Hikaru shouted. He saw the girl's head pop over the ledge, her bleached white hair falling over her face. It had been cropped in a bob with bangs that were longer in the front. She pressed a finger over her lips to hush him.

"What?" She hissed.

"How did you do that?" Hikaru asked, a little softer now.

"Do what?"

"Climb the wall like that? You have sneakers on, it's not possible." He watched as she adjusted herself to swing her feet over the edge. Dozens upon dozens of tiny silver nails poked through the soles of her shoes.

"Mystery solved?" She looked at him, bored with all the questions. He nodded.

_Where are you going?_ He wanted to ask, but she was gone before he knew it; Left him in the shadows of the glaring yellow street lamp.

* * *

Hikaru checked his watch and ran a hand through his auburn hair. He had waited for the mysterious girl for over an hour. He was beginning to doubt that the girl was ever going to come back. It was half-past two in the morning anyway. _Maybe I should head back home?_

He heard the familiar metal scraping of nails against brick. The girl dropped silently to the pavement. She had a pair of old tennis shoes in her hand, tied together at the laces. They had been tricked out with nails in a similar fashion to her own.

"Sorry I took so long, I had to find another box of nails in my apartment." She tossed the pair to Hikaru, who caught it in one hand. He stared at them, unsure of what to do.

"No problem..." He said slowly, trying to piece together what was happening.

"Meet me here tomorrow at exactly one o'clock at night. Wear the shoes and dark clothes. Don't bring your wallet or any money. I'll be here waiting for you. Come alone," she gave him a wicked grin, "'you want to fight? I'll train you. Don't let me down."

Hikaru looked at her, stunned. "You'll do it?" His eyes lit up. She nodded and turned to leave. "Wait!" He half-shouted half-whispered for the second time that night. "What should I call you? You never told me your name."

She stared at him, expressionless. "I don't have one," she turned her head down and gingerly stroked the scar on her cheek.

Hikaru shrugged, "How about I call you Star?" He suggested. He noticed her grimace. "What? It's better than _scar._" He poked a little fun at her.

She glared at him for a moment before she lightened up and laughed. "Alright, I suppose Star will do."

"Perfect! See you tomorrow, _Star._" Hikaru emphasized her new name.

"'Later, _Hikaru,_" She mocked.

They parted; Star preferring to take to the rooftops and Hikaru by way of the street.


	4. Target, Target, Target

_**Ninja Star**_

_**Target, Target, Target**_

Star inched the splintered wooden door open. The familiar smell of dust and potpourri met her as she edged inside. Moonlight filtered through the open window and small candles were burning to nubs in the corner, giving off a warm glow. The woman she had come to visit was against using light bulbs past midnight. "Ivy? 'You here?" Star asked.

"Come on in," the inviting voice of her childhood guardian called from inside. Ivy swung the door open wide and ushered Star in, closing the door again behind her. She handed Star a chipped porcelain bowl full of clear broth that smelled strongly of fish. It had little pieces of green onion, seaweed, and noodles in it. _Clear Soup, Ivy's favorite._

Star sat herself down on a stool at the table that stood under the windowsill. Ivy joined her, donning a bowl of her own. Star tipped the bowl to her lips. Instantly the salty smell of fish mingled with that of seaweed. What looked (and smelled) totally unappetizing was actually very good.

"I have a problem," Star set her bowl down on the table that wobbled a little. Ivy looked at her over her own bowl with intrigue. She placed her bowl down and wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

Ivy had light brown hair that she always pulled into pigtails; the two frayed blue ribbons peeking through her sleek strands. Blue eyes that were so light and crystalline-looking they were almost clear. Many mistook her for being blind. Most of the time she used this to her advantage.

It was Ivy that taught Star to use nails in the bottoms of her shoes for climbing walls. Ivy had taught her everything. Ivy had been protecting Star since she was four. They had lived together in the very same abandoned apartment complex they were sitting in for six years. Then, at the age of ten, Star was turned out to find her own home.

That had been the plan all along.

_"Two or more people living in the same building symbolize strength. They become a target for the foolish. This is not our situation. We would be a target for the powerful. Remember Cat, Wilt, and Jin? They have strength in numbers. The streets themselves fear them. They attract the foolhardy fighter who challenges them and risks everything. You are not yet strong enough to face them. But, you are strong and I am not done training you._

_"Strong from the day you are born; that is what everyone expects. Many of these people were born to the cold, hard ground. Nothing to their name. No one who cares. You are not so lucky. You had a family. But, when I found you, you had nothing. Nothing but a pair of ruby earrings and a set of engagement rings. The prize you have chosen to protect. The prize hat makes you a target._

_"You know the feelings of the street. I have shaped you into the urban ninja you are today, which I am very proud of. But you must go on your own. Steal, mug the weak but do not forget your morals, survive at all costs and come and visit me when the time is right. Tonight, under your mother's full moon, you become the next warrior woman of the streets. You will develop your own district and watch your prey. You can evade the police, those stronger than you, and the elements like none I've seen at your age. Make me proud."_

Star recalled Ivy's entire monologue in her head. Something she would never forget. It was twilight on the rooftop of a large hotel building, overlooking the entire city. Surreal.

That was Ivy for you. The twenty-eight-year-old with the wisdom and mentality of a ninety-year-old woman. She loved being cryptic; the way she talked about targets and how she spoke of the streets as if they were living. Star always thought it silly to call her an 'urban ninja' or a 'warrior woman of the streets'.

"What's wrong?" Ivy herself broke into Star's thoughts.

Star took another quick sip of broth and a deep breath. "I met a boy."

Ivy looked un-amused. "Lovely. We both meet lots of boys."

"No, this one was different! I was stealing his wallet, when I checked his ID and– He's the son of a famous fashion designer. That... Hitachiin woman.

Ivy raised her eyebrows. "You pick-pocketed a Hitachiin? Very impressive," she nodded slowly and sipped from her bowl.

"Well, actually... He caught me." Star admitted. Ivy almost spit broth everywhere. She set her bowl down and pushed back her chair. Star extended a hand to stop her, "No, it's not what you think! He wants me to train him!"

"Absolutely not! You aren't strong enough to train another person. Especially not a teenage boy."

"Why not?" Star complained, "You found and trained _me_ when _you _were sixteen. You've been training me for eleven years; I'm ready to do the same for someone else.

"You know that two people travelling together are a target, especially when one is but a fledgling." Ivy said as she rinsed out her bowl in a bucket of water. Star groaned.

"Enough with the 'target' stuff! Everyone's a target out here! Besides, it'll be fine. I took on seven boys at once earlier this morning." Star flubbed the truth.

"I'm sure." Ivy snorted incredulously.

"You saw?" Star wrung her fingers guiltily.

"Who do you think was holding the window closed?" Ivy grinned wickedly. Star opened and closed her mouth like a fish in shock, eyes circling the floor as if the answer was there. She thought someone had welded shut that window.

"What?"

"Training, dear. One must always be ready." Ivy pressed a finger to Star's lips and ushered her to the door. Star narrowed her eyes. She stepped into the clear moonlight. She scanned the rooftops and the streets. The tiny moths that circled the street lamps. The little brown spider spinning a web lazily in the corner.

Aside from the late-night crawlers, spiders or otherwise, no one was around. Star stood at the roof ledge, ready to skip to the next, when the door creaked again. She turned. "Does he know your name?" Ivy asked.

"No. He calls me Star."

Ivy seemed to contemplate this for a moment before replying, "Good, because to know someone's name–"

"Is to have power over that person." Star joined in on the age-old lesson Ivy had taught her when they first met. When Star made the mistake of asking Ivy what her name was. Star smiled and Ivy returned it.

Star. Ivy. Cat, Wilt, Jin. All pseudonyms for thieves and robbers. Street fighters. Home.


	5. Train To Your Heart's Content

**_Ninja Star_**

**_Train To Your Heart's Content_**

Star hung on a street light, patiently awaiting the arrival of her new student. When she spotted Hikaru under the lamppost she swung down to the ground to meet him. She snuck up behind him and poked him in the ribs, making him spin around. She cocked her head to the side and grinned, "Hello, new student."

"'Morning new teacher," Hikaru smiled his best "teacher's pet" smile, "I did everything you asked; new shoes, dark clothes, come alone to the ghetto at one in the morning."

"Do not question the teacher!" Star commanded. "Your first lesson, now that you have your new shoes, is to climb this wall right here," Star leaned her weight on the nearest brick wall, "once you're on the roof we can start training for real."

Hikaru stared at her. "Are you not going to teach me how to climb it? I'm just expected to _know_ how to do this?"

"Yup."

Hikaru sighed. He watched Star climb the wall and pull herself up to the flat roof. He tried to take notice of every little detail in her technique. He sized up the wall, got a running start and grabbed for a handhold between two bricks. Star giggled as she watched him slide down to the ground again.

"Don't run next time, it makes it harder. Especially if you don't know what you're doing." Star climbed back down the wall to teach Hikaru, even though she had told him she wasn't going to. "Try this, use every little outcrop and ridge in the wall to your advantage. Don't rely on just your toes to climb either. Try to keep your feet as flat against the wall as you can. You have nails in your shoes for a reason: traction. And try to move as quickly as possible. On a flat surface momentum is key."

Hikaru nodded his head and tried again. He grabbed between the bricks and kept his feet parallel to the wall. Very soon he managed to pull himself onto the roof, panting like a dog. He lay down on his back and breathed heavily. Star pulled a bottle of water out of the messenger bag over her shoulder and tossed it to Hikaru who quickly drank half of it.

"First order of business," Star said, looking down at her student, "starting tomorrow, you'll be going to the gym everyday. I don't care when or where but you're going. You need to build up endurance, especially if climbing a wall makes you winded. You'll also need to build up muscle, so don't forget to weight train. And make sure you have someone spot you." Star made checklists in her head as she paced back and forth in front of Hikaru.

"You won't come with me?" Hikaru asked and stared up at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Absolutely not! I have work at night, which means I sleep all day, which means I won't be there to hold your hand. Pick a friend or someone you trust who knows what they're doing and take them with you. You have friends, don't you?"

"Yeah of course I do, I just thought... We were going to do this together." Hikaru pushed himself from the ground and brushed himself off, keeping his eyes averted from Star.

_Does this kid have feelings for me? _Star thought to herself. She felt her face getting red and pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

* * *

"Do it again." Star said, pulling her sweatshirt off. She threw the purple hoodie with the word "Strength" written on it in black, to the ground and shivered as the brisk wind cooled the sweat to her skin. "Push me against that wall as hard as you can."

"But I don't want to hu–"

Star cut Hikaru off in the middle of his sentence. "I promise, you can't hurt me. Push me against the wall."

Hikaru did as he was told and shoved Star as hard as he could against a brick wall. "Again." She commanded. Hikaru sighed and shoved her again. This time, for a brief moment, she winced when she hit the wall. A grin broke out on her face and she clapped Hikaru on the back. "I told you working out at the gym while you're not practicing with me really pays off."

"Sure, but it makes me twice as sore in the mornings." Hikaru had been going to the gym at his school with his twin brother Kaoru, and his two third-year friends: Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai who were martial arts masters. _And it's been making everyone a bit suspicious. _

Star retrieved her sweatshirt and they scaled down a nearby wall in the black night and snuck into an alleyway. Star rolled a beat up dumpster that hadn't been used in years out of the way to reveal a large hole in the brick wall behind it. "Where are we going?" Hikaru asked her.

"To my apartment. I have something I need to do before we end training," Star replied. They slid through the gap and took a right turn arriving at a door. Through the door, up six flights of stairs, and three doors down the hallway was Star's apartment. She opened the door to let them both in.

She lit a cluster of old candles and set them on the only table in the one-room apartment. "Welcome home. The kitchen is that corner, the bedroom is that corner, and the bathroom in through that door, although you'll probably have to jiggle the faucet handle a few times to get the water to run." Star explained as she lit some more candles and set these on the kitchen counter. She noticed a little spider in the corner making its web against the fridge so Star let it crawl onto her finger. She took it to the open window and flicked it off into the outside world. _I need to dust more_.

"Why don't you just turn the lights on?" Hikaru asked. He flipped the light switch by the door making the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling glow, and making Star hiss.

"No! We don't use the lights! You have no idea how bright they look from the outside." Star explained. "_Technically_," Star dragged out the word, "I'm not _supposed_ to be living here. The landlord doesn't know I'm here because I don't pay rent. Didn't you wonder why I made you crawl behind a dumpster instead of taking you through the front doors?"

"Well, no. I figured it was one of the least weird things you could have done. But isn't it illegal to live here without paying?"

"Sure, but the guy who owns the place is like a thousand years old. He doesn't come up to the top floors anymore. He'll never catch on. He just pays for my electricity, water, and plumbing." Star grinned.

Hikaru looked at Star like she was crazy. There was still so much he didn't understand about her and her lifestyle. Then again, it had only been two weeks.

Star left Hikaru to snoop around while she retrieved the item she had come for. She knelt on her bed and put her hands on a rectangular portion of the wall where the bricks were different shades of red and brown than the others. She gripped it with her nails and pulled it toward her. The scraping noise it made distracted Hikaru from looking through Star's things. He watched Star swing the portion of bricks toward her like a cabinet door. Inside the cavity in the wall were an assortment of knick-knacks and treasures.

Old letters, a navy blue jewelry box, a knife sheathed in a mother-of-pearl casing, and a newspaper clipping.

"How did you do that?" Hikaru asked with intrigue. "Do all of the apartments here do that?"

"No; they were here when I moved in. I obviously wasn't the first person to live here that had things to keep safe. There are a couple of them hidden all over the room, but I won't tell you where they are just yet." Star smirked. She closed the bricks off again. You could never tell they had moved.

Star had in her hands a little elephant figurine. "I've been saving up for it. A friend of mine's daughter's favorite animal is an elephant. It was her birthday today so I'm going to bring this to her." She made for the door, Hikaru on her heels.

"Will they still be awake? It's like three in the morning!"

"They'll be awake. They run on the same sleep schedule that I do. Their father and I have the same… Job."

* * *

"Happy birthday, Yuna!" Star whispered happily to a girl that had just turned eleven. She handed her the figurine and took a step back to watch the girl admire it. Yuna was the daughter of one of Star's allies: Masaru Tatsuko and his wife, Aki. They were a family of brown hair and brown eyes for whom Star had become accustomed to watching their three daughters while they were out working. Star said goodnight to the birthday girl, her younger sister, Masako, and the baby of the family (who had been sleeping all along), Ishigo and kissed them all goodnight. Star quietly exited the apartment that was only two floors above her own and met Hikaru in the hall where he had been waiting.

"How did it go?" He asked

Star broke out in a grin. "Wonderfully." She grabbed his hand and started dragging him along with her down the stairs to the ground floor. They went out the back way and carefully replaced the dumpster when Star explained to Hikaru, "I have something I want to show you."

* * *

"Isn't it magical?" Star asked him. She threw her arms open wide and flung her head back, letting her hair blow behind her in the crisp autumn wind. Below her was a view of not just the rough parts of downtown she was used to, but a view of the upscale city as well. This was the city she had dreamed of living in since she was young. The gargantuan buildings, the way the city glittered with lights even in the dead of night. She couldn't wrap her head around it. She couldn't believe Hikaru could ever get tired of something like that.

"Where are we?" Hikaru asked, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep them warm in the wind that was picking up. He stood next to Star and observed the view below them.

"We are on the roof a the tallest, and nicest, building in town. The Suou Downtown Hotel. The closest to high-class I've ever been. This has always been my favorite place to go."

"Suou Hotel?" Hikaru smirked while memories of his dear friend Tamaki Suou flashed through his head, "I think I know the owners of this franchise."

"Why am I not surprised?" Star jokingly punched him in the shoulder. "It's this view that has made me contemplate every aspect of my life. It gives me something to hope for. I'll never understand why you'd want to leave something like that," she gestured to the shining buildings in the distance, "I would kill to be there."

Hikaru sighed before responding with, "Where do you go to school?

Star gave him a funny look. "I don't understand what that has to do with anything."

"It doesn't. It was just a question, sheesh. You don't _have_ to answer it." Hikaru shuffled his feet. There was a momentary silence.

"I don't go to school, not that it should come as a surprise to you. I learned everything I need to know on the streets." Star finally replied. She thought about the countless hours she spent learning with Ivy.

"Come to school with me then." Hikaru broke his gaze away from the city and looked up at Star. "I could pay for you. My parents will never know if a few million yen go missing," he chuckled, "I owe you one anyway. It really does mean a lot that you're doing this for me.

"Go to rich kid school with you? Wouldn't it be taboo to have a street kid in a pristine high school?"

"They don't have to know that you live on the streets. From now on, you're my distant cousin!" Hikaru beamed with excitement at his 'well thought-out' plan.

Star looked over the city once more. She took a deep breath and held it in for a few seconds before loudly releasing it. "Alright. When will I start?"

Hikaru slung his arm around Star. "As soon as possible!"


	6. Ouran's Newest Ninja

**Ninja Star**

**Ouran's Newest Ninja**

"There's still a lot about yourself that you haven't told me yet," Hikaru mentioned nonchalantly as he ducked from a flying bottle. They were in a grassy field between two old buildings trying out Star's newest training exercise: Throwing glass bottles at Hikaru to sharpen his reflexes. So far he had done a good job of not getting hit.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Star asked as she lobbed another bottle at him.

"Like, where's your family? I haven't seen your parents or any siblings. Nothing." Hikaru bobbed and weaved around the flying objects.

"They're not around anymore. I have someone who's sort of like an older sister to me. She's the one who trained me. Her name's Ivy, maybe I'll give you the privilege of meeting her one day," Star giggled at the unlikely idea of Ivy and Hikaru getting along together.

"Fair enough. Why don't you have a name?"

"Oh I have a name, you're just not allowed to know it because 'to know someone's name is to have power over that person'. Ivy taught me that. That's why I have to call her Ivy and why you have to call me Star.

"Does she call you by your real name?" Hikaru asked. He narrowly missed being smacked in the shoulder by the last bottle Star had. He turned and started helping her collect them from out of the grass so she could continue trying to hit him.

"Of course she does. She's known me since I was four. Are you satisfied with these answers? Can we change the subject now?"

"Sure. How'd you get that scar?"

"That's not what I meant when I said 'change the subject'!" Star threw a bottle at Hikaru while he was bent over and watched as it thumped off of his back. He cried out in pain and narrowed his eyes at her. He tossed the bottle in his hands at Star who stepped out of the way just in time.

"You want to know how I got this scar? I did something stupid. I was only ten and feeling high and mighty because I was moving out on my own. I thought that meant that I was invincible or knew everything, so I challenged the strongest trio of muggers in this district. Honestly, I was lucky to make it out with my life. Two of them pinned me down while the leader, Cat, carved a perfect star into my face. It took weeks to heal, but I guess I'm lucky she's such a good artist. Had it been uneven it would have bothered me every time I looked at it," Star shrugged.

Hikaru whistled. "Wow… That _was_ dumb." Star glared at him and raised another bottle threateningly over her head, ready to lob it at him.

"Oh yeah? Well, tell me about _your_ life! What is it like to be able to have anything you want whenever you want it?"

"It's great, but at the same time, awful. Everyone expects you to be well composed, proper, and sweet all the time and that's not how I am! I've never had to work for anything in my life. It gets pretty boring, so my brother and I are always playing pranks on the kids at school and our friends, especially this one kid, Tamaki. He's the self-proclaimed 'King' of our Host Club at school. He's pretty irritating actually, but we owe him a lot." It was Hikaru's turn to shrug.

"It must be pretty cool to have friends your age. The only friends I have are the Tatsuko family and I can't really even call them friends. More like, people I babysit for that don't hate me."

"Well, when you come to Ouran _my_ friends will be _your_ friends. It'll be great!

"I don't know, friends with a host club?" Star giggled.

"Hey, we're not so bad! It's a lot of fun!" Hikaru said in his defense. Star shrugged again and continued picking up bottles.

"Whatever."

* * *

Star stood at the huge front door of the Hitachiin household. She had walked across town to and was dressed in the nicest clothes she could find. She made sure that they didn't have any holes or stains.

She mustered her courage and rung the doorbell. A melodious chime could be heard ringing throughout the house. Only a few moments later a butler came to the door.

"Can I help you with something madam?" The stout, sleepy-eyed butler asked Star.

"I'm here for Mr. Hikaru Hitachiin. He knows I'm coming." Star replied awkwardly staring at her feet. The butler stepped aside and gestured into the house. Star walked inside and gasped as she took in one of the most glorious sights she had ever seen.

There were vaulted ceilings and curtains that hung from big picture widows with views of a well-groomed courtyard. The clean tile floors clicked under her feet. The house looked like nothing she could have ever imagined.

Down from a hardwood spiral staircase pounded two Hikarus. They both smiled at her look of confusion. "Star, this is my brother Kaoru." The twin she now knew was Hikaru said.

"Hikaru how do you know this girl?" Kaoru inquired before smiling and politely shaking Star's hand. Star shook back and adjusted her gaze back to Hikaru.

"You told me you had a brother but you forgot to mention he was your _twin_."

"You didn't ask." He replied. He turned to his brother, "I went for a walk one night when I couldn't sleep. I met Star while I was walking and we hit it off. Since then I've been going on night walks with her. She's... Homeschooled so she doesn't have any friends. I told her we'd pay for her to go to Ouran. That way we could hang out more!"

This earned a hurt look from his brother. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were doing this? And isn't that a pretty big favor to do someone, paying them through a very expensive high school? What will Mom and Dad say?"

"They won't say anything because they won't find out. They'll never miss a couple million yen. C'mon, she's really cool and deserves to go to Ouran with us! She's worked really hard her whole life," Hikaru was practically pleading with Kaoru. Star was skipping around the room on her tiptoes observing all of the craftsmanship and detail in the twins' house. The mansion had her in awe. The twins shook their heads at her with identical smiles on their faces.

"Okay," Kaoru sighed at last, "lets go do her paperwork."

* * *

"First name," Hikaru looked over the paper his hands at Star. He was hoping she would have to tell him her real name. He couldn't help but be curious about it.

"Just put Star," she replied. Kaoru looked at her quizzically.

"Is that the name you were born with?" He asked. Hikaru pursed his lips, waiting for the answer.

"As far as I'm concerned, yes. Next question."

Hikaru continued on with the paperwork. "Last name. Hitachiin; from now on you are our cousin. So if anyone asks, be sure to keep the story up." Hikaru looked at Star, but also at his brother who had an uneasy look on his face. "Now for your address and phone numbers I'll put our info in. If we gat any mail or calls for you, which I doubt we will, I'll forward it all to you personally."

Star seemed content with this. "Is that all we need to do today? I've gotta get home to... Work." Star hesitated when she remembered that Kaoru had yet to learn the truth about her life. It made her especially nervous that she could no longer tell which twin was Hikaru. She was afraid to say anything to either of them.

"I guess you're all done today. If all goes well you'll be in by next month!" Hikaru grinned at his teacher, soon to become a student. He had a feeling the girl sitting across the table was about have a huge impact on his life.

And he was right.

**AN: Sorry you guys, I know I release really short chapters. I just started school again and I'm really stressed out, so this chapter may not be top-notch. R&R, F&F, thanks for reading! ~Yuki-mu**


	7. I Didn't Think He'd Notice

**_Ninja Star_**

**_I Didn't Think He'd Notice_**

"Hold your head still!" Kaoru forced Star's head forward. He was brushing and drying her short silver-y hair. Upon her arrival at the Hitachiin residence that morning, the twins had hustled Star into a restroom and forced her to bathe and wash her hair thoroughly. The twins had left her new Ouran uniform on the bathroom counter. When star opened the bag and admired the buttercup yellow dress, she was overtaken by both excitement and fear. It didn't make her feel any better that she had never worn a dress before.

"I'm so tired though!" Star whined while Hikaru dusted a hefty amount of concealing powder over her scar. The twins both agreed that if she wanted to fit in at school, she would have to look relatively normal. Her bleached hair and two-colored eyes already pushed the envelope, a big star carved into her face wasn't going to make her fit in any better. Kaoru continued to rake through her hair with an assortment of brushes.

"I don't understand how you're tired all the time," Kaoru shook his head and rummaged through a box of hair accessories. He handed Star a headband that was the same maroon color as the bow at the collar of her dress. She put in her hair and admired her reflection in the mirror Hikaru placed in front of her, "it's as if you never sleep."

Star froze. She shot a sideways glance at Hikaru who nonchalantly shook his head as if to signal, _He knows nothing_.

* * *

The twins hopped out of the limousine and grabbed their school bags. Star lingered on her seat for a moment, unable to remember the last time she had ridden in a car, let alone a limo. She rubbed her hand over the leather seat once and exited the vehicle like the twins before her. They waited impatiently at the front gates for Star, but she was too busy gawking at the sheer size of Ouran and its constant stream of kids hurrying through the gate.

"Come on, we'll take you sightseeing later! If we don't hurry we'll be late for the Host Club meeting." Hikaru explained as he dragged her through the hallways, Star still staring wide-eyed at everyone and everything. Many of the Ouran students stopped and stared at Star's outlandish looks. Hikaru hadn't noticed, but Star was trembling ever so slightly.

She snapped back to focus when she was abruptly halted at a huge set of doors. A sign above them explained that they had arrived at _Music Room 3_. "This is where the Host Club meets and operates."

"Hikaru, are you sure she should come inside with us? It'll be pretty hectic," Kaoru whispered to his brother. Hikaru looked like he was considering this. "She could wait in one of the libraries until classes start." Kaoru suggested.

"You guys are going to abandon me?" Star overheard their hushed conversation. "No way! I'm going with you," Star pushed the Host Club doors open. The twins gasped.

Star paid them no mind and stepped into the well-lit room. A tall boy with short, black hair was seated at a table reading a book. The little boy seated across from him was shoveling cake into his mouth. A boy with glasses glanced up from his computer. His glasses glinted though there was no shift of light. Hikaru and Kaoru rushed inside behind Star as Kyoya acknowledged the new girl.

"Hello, Mademoiselle. I'm sorry to tell you, but hosting hours won't start until club period."

"It's okay, Kyoya-senpai, she's our cousin. This is her first day in high school." The twins told their vice-president in perfect synchrony. Kyoya nodded and scribbled in the notebook he kept handy. He bowed slightly and introduced himself, "I'm Kyoya Ootori, second-year and Host Club vice-president."

She curtsied, "Star Hitachiin, first-year. It's nice to meet you." The twins nodded. Star recited her greeting just as they had her practice.

From the doors a graceful blonde boy flowed into the room. His eyes lit up as he approached Star. He lifted her hand and kissed it gently. "Hello, Princess," he smiled sweetly at her and bowed. "You're Hikaru and Kaoru's cousin. Star, if I heard correctly?" The boy asked. Star nodded. "I'm Tamaki Suou, Host Club King!" He said in a very princely manner.

"Suou, as in the hotel franchise?" Star asked him. The Suou family owned her favorite building in town. The quaint hotel on whose roof she had watched the sun set so many times before. It was Tamaki's turn to nod. "Hikaru told me about you." Star grinned at the thought off all the pranks Hikaru and Kaoru played on the boy standing before her. Tamaki gave Star a funny look, but before he could ask another question, the short blonde boy interrupted.

"Hi Star-chan!" The short boy's eyes glittered. It puzzled Star as to why he'd be wearing a high school uniform. He left his cake at the table when he bounded up from his seat, stuffed bunny in hand, and glommed onto Star. His tall companion rose with him and stopped a few feet behind the embrace.

Suddenly, he spoke: "Mitskuni." His voice was deep enough for Star to drown in. "Don't throw yourself at her. She's uncomfortable."

Star would never admit it to the little boy, but his tight embrace was making her, indeed, very uncomfortable. He released her and took a step back, looking sad. "Sorry," he said quietly.

Star was quick to pat his shoulder and reassure him, "it's fine." She didn't like to see the little boy unhappy. _He is so adorable!_ Star thought.

The boy beamed. "Star-chan, come have cake with me." He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her over to the little table he was sitting at before, apparently over his brief sadness. When Star nervously glanced back at the other boys they were all smiles. "My name is Mitskuni but everyone calls me Honey!" He grinned as he cut Star a piece of the strawberry cake on the table. He placed it on a china plate and handed her a silver fork. "That's my cousin Takashi over there," He gestured to the tall boy with short hair whom he had been sitting with originally. "Everyone calls him Mori," he explained, watching Star take a bite of her cake. Her pupils grew as wide as saucers.

"This is fantastic!" She pointed at her cake with her fork. Honey giggled, "Have you never had cake before?"

"I have, but I only ever get it for my birthday. We don't buy sweets too much at my house." Star failed to mention that the little cakes that Ivy bought for her on her birthday every year were the day-olds from a family owned bakery in town.

"Kyo-chan always makes sure we have really good cake for the guests, and me too!" He grinned and took another bite. Star did also; she relished the taste of her first true piece of cake.

That would be the day of many firsts: her first day of school, her first time wearing a dress, her first time riding in a limousine, her first piece of cake…

The first time one of her victims ever recognized her.

While Star was talking and eating cake with Honey, it went unnoticed to her that a seventh boy had entered the room through one of the big wooden doors. His, or rather, _her_ name was Haruhi Fujioka.

* * *

Star had finished her piece of cake, and was wiping her mouth with one of the fabric napkins on the table. In doing so, she managed to wipe a bit of the concealing makeup off of her cheek without realizing.

Honey was quick to notice something out-of-place. He took his napkin and leaned over the table. Star had turned her head toward Hikaru who was asking when another member was going to arrive so they could start the meeting. Honey startled her when he started rubbing the napkin on the side of her face.

Star jumped back, "What are you doing?" She touched her fingers to her scarred cheek. When she pulled them back, there was loose powder on the tips.

Honey opened his mouth to explain his actions, when the missing Host Club member burst through the door, huffing and puffing.

"I'm here! We can start now!" He said. Star looked up from looking at her face in a teaspoon from the table. She was trying to see how much of the makeup Honey had rubbed off.

All of it was gone.

"Finally, Haruhi, you're here." Hikaru groaned, "Can we start now?"

Star's unusual one-blue-one-green eyed gaze met the new host's dark brown one.

Star froze when she placed a memory to the face.  
A familiar alleyway on the residential side of the city, a closed window, six casually dressed boys, and one victim. _"Haruhi, Haruhi come see this!"_

Haruhi had recognized Star too. Her hand went up to her cheek, to the thin scar from a smooth blade. Star did the same, her fingers pressed over her trademark star.

And in the company of six thoroughly confused high school boys, and despite their well-composed personalities,  
they both screamed.


	8. This Could Be A Problem

**_Ninja Star _**

**_This Could Be A Problem_**

Tamaki immediately pulled Haruhi to him in a fatherly hug. "What is it?" He asked, his eyes switching continually between Haruhi, Star, and the twins who had brought the newcomer in the first place. "What's happened?"

Haruhi pointed a shaky finger at Star and stuttered, "Her! _She_ is the one that tried to mug me in that alleyway over summer holiday!" Her eyes flooded with tears as the traumatizing memories flooded her brain.

Mori, who had watched the meeting with much intrigue and confusion, breathed in sharply. He tried to remember every sensory detail about the encounter between he and Haruhi's attacker. The only thing he could think of was the glint of the mugger's blue and green eyes when he turned to glance back at the alley from the rooftop.

A two-colored gaze he cursed himself for not recognizing. The fact that the attacker was a girl under the guise of a Hitachiin relative threw him off a bit.

Star was still standing by the table. Honey had run to his cousin's protection when he heard the screams were first issued. Star looked like a guilty deer caught in the headlights, her eyes darting from door to door, scoping for an exit. The hosts blocked the doors she had entered from. There was an open door on the far side of the room that was wide open, but looked like it contained only a small kitchen. Star wouldn't risk getting cornered in there.

While anxiously pondering exit options, she didn't realize that Mori was coming to grab her. His solid grasp came down on her wrist. Star stifled a startled scream. She shot a narrowed gaze to Hikaru that said, _Blood will be shed if you do not come get him to release me._ Hikaru got the message because he ran to Mori and grabbed his other arm– the one not grasping the incredibly dangerous ninja girl.

"Mori-senpai, please don't." Hikaru pleaded and tugged on his arm.

"Hikaru, she's dangerous. Don't forget, she mugged Haruhi." Mori turned his head to the reckless twin. His hold on Star faltered and she took her chance. She quickly took the teaspoon she'd been using before to check her reflection, and jabbed Mori in the joint between his shoulder-blade and collarbone with it as hard as she could. He cursed under his breath and released her.

Haruhi squealed and pressed herself closer to Tamaki, afraid that Star might come after her again. _That's such a stupid assumption. Six boys have you surrounded, what could I possibly do to you now? _Star thought. She bolted to two closets side-by-side on the back wall of the room. She threw both doors open. One was very small and dark, piled to the brim with old instruments from what it seemed. Star remembered what the sign outside the door had said: _Music Room 3_.

The other room was slightly larger and had a window. The sunlight filtering in revealed that it contained some extra chairs and a large cabinet full of tea sets. She chose this room and hurried inside. She slammed the door just fast enough to close it in Honey's face, keeping him out.

She felt for a lock on the dark closet's door handle, and when she didn't find one, she opted to push one of the chairs underneath, blocking the door. She flipped the switch beside the door frame. The light flickered on.

She heard the hosts beating on the door, Haruhi screaming at her to come out and face her punishment, Kaoru hollering for her to come out and explain everything. Hikaru begging on the verge of tears for her to come out, that it would be okay. Tamaki screaming things like, "How dare you hurt my daughter?"

Of course, there was no need to go out and face them.

Not since she had picked the closet with roof access.

She stacked one chair on top of another until she was tall enough to reach the ceiling panel helpfully labeled with a little plastic plaque that said "Roof Access". Grateful that the ceilings in the closet were not nearly as tall as the ceiling in the main clubroom, she gripped the edges of the panel and pulled it down, some asbestos crumbling and showering to the floor in a small white cloud. She shook it out of her hair and pulled the small wooden ladder down, fully aware that the door was now shuddering on its hinges. The hosts were trying to beat it down. She scrambled up the ladder on to a platform.

Star pulled the ladder up and the ceiling tile back into place only seconds before Honey and Mori kicked in the door. Kyoya cringed as he mentally calculated the damage costs. Hikaru groaned and hung his head when he realized the only way Star could have gone is up.

"We have to go after her!" Tamaki shouted, playing leader.

"No! You're not going near her! I've known her for months now, it's my fault for bringing her here, so I'll handle her myself!" Hikaru glared hard at his friends, daring them to say otherwise.

"How could you bring her if you knew she was the one who attacked Haruhi?" Kyoya asked accusingly.

"I _didn't _know! Neither did Kaoru! Had I known she mugged Haruhi, I would have called the police on her the moment I met her. Kaoru and I didn't get to the alleyway in time to see the mugger, and besides, you all _obviously _didn't recognize her." He pointed accusingly at Tamaki, Kyoya, Honey, and Mori in turn.

Honey piped up, " I thought Star-chan was your cousin?"

Hikaru and Kaoru shook their heads in unison. "We don't have any cousins. We only said that so we could explain why we're paying her through school. She's just a girl I met on the streets. I sneak out now and then to go visit her, and now it's my responsibility to go get her down from the roof." Hikaru set his jaw and pulled down the ceiling tile. He pulled down the ladder and started climbing. Before he entered the darkness he turned, "When we come down, don't yell at her, don't glare at her, and definitely _don't _touch her." He looked to Mori senpai. Then he turned and continued up the ladder.

* * *

Up a dark flight of stairs and out a trapdoor on the roof of the pink stone building, met Star with bright sunlight and a cool breeze. The roof of Ouran High School was nothing put a grey slab dotted by the occasional short chimney or air conditioning unit. There were a few doves loitering on the edge of the roof, but other than that it was bare.

Star made her way to an air conditioning unit that overlooked the rose-hedge maze. The clock tower was to her left and the gardens were to her right. She hopped on top of the unit and crossed her legs. Her eyes stung with the tears she'd been harboring since she locked herself in the closet. She was aware of a few things now; she counted them off in her head.

_One: Haruhi is actually a girl. Two: Hikaru probably hates me now that he knows I mugged his friend. Three: I am no longer welcome in the Host Club. Four: this has obliterated any chance of me having friends. Five: classes will eventually start and everyone there will hate me too because I look stupid compared to them, they all look normal. Six: the hosts are probably calling the cops now and I'll go to prison for ten years of uncorrected crime. Seven: there's not a chance in hell I'll be coming back to school tomorrow._

She turned to the clock tower and stared at her reflection in the face of the clock. It was the first time she truly felt self-conscious. She'd never had too; this was her first time being surrounded by perfect looking teenagers.

She stared at the crop of hair that she had bleached white when she was ten to signify her being on her own. Her two-colored eyes, a genetic mutation with a name she never learned. Her thick scar was just the icing on the estranged cake. She broke down freely now.

She didn't turn around when Hikaru pushed the trap door open and stepped on to the roof. He spotted her instantly and ran to her. He was about to hug her when her heard her sobbing. He slowed down and walked to next few steps to her. Hikaru had no idea how to react. He had never seen Star as anything but a confident, independent girl who was only ever happy and determined. She was none of which at that moment.

"Hey," he said softly. He opted to gently put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a sort of half-hug, "what's the matter?"

Star's head shot up and she glared at the view of the school grounds below her, not wanting to look directly at Hikaru. She still feared that she had lost her first real friend. "What's the matter? _What's the matter?_ Everyone _hates _me, _that's _what's the matter," she sniffled and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.

Before Hikaru could assure Star that they didn't hate her, his brother and the other hosts pounded up to the roof. Hikaru instinctively pulled Star closer to him, much like Tamaki did to Haruhi; only, Hikaru wasn't dumb enough to call Star his "daughter". "What are you guys doing? I told you to stay downstairs!"

Star's heartbeat quickened as the strong feelings of anxiety rose in her chest. "What do you all want from me?" She screamed at them, still crying. Star blubbered a string of explanations. "I live on the streets, what do you expect from me? The only thing I'm good at is stealing money from people and the only reason I have to do that is because I'm poor!" She looked directly at Haruhi when she said, "I didn't take any money from you, and I honestly didn't mean to cut you! You screamed and I flinched and it was just an accident and I'm sorry please don't send me to prison!"

"Hikaru," Kyoya was the first one to break the silence Star had left hanging awkwardly in the air, "explain this. Now."


	9. Tell Me Something I Don't Know

**_Ninja Star_**

**_Tell Me Something I Don't Know_**

"Explain? Explain what?" Hikaru looked at Kyoya with angry confusion.

"Explain to me why you would befriend a poor girl you met on the street. You don't stop and make friends with every stranger, so what would keep you from ignoring her?" Kyoya asked, his notebook at the ready.

Star stepped away from Hikaru to confront Kyoya. She opened her mouth to speak but Hikaru pulled her back and cut her off, "You don't have to tell them anything," he assured her.

"She has to tell us every thing or I call my family's private police force." To back up his statement, Kyoya pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "Now you will tell me why she is here. Paying a poor girl through school is a very expensive act of kindness that is uncharacteristic of you, Hikaru. Especially if she was doing nothing for you in return." His foot was tapping impatiently now.

Star looked at Hikaru nervously and he returned the expression. Finally he said, "It's not something you'd ever understand, but I'm sick of having everything handed to me on a silver platter. I've been rich for sixteen years, it's _boring_!"

The hosts just stared at him. Haruhi looked a little irked, which would be understandable. She was a commoner.

"I've been training him to fight!" Star blurted. She didn't want to go to prison. If there was anything the hosts wanted to know that would make them go away, she was ready to tell them.

"Training him to fight what?" Honey asked. Being the master martial artist he was this fact seemed to intrigue him.

"T-to fight on the streets," Star replied. Her bottom lip was trembling again. This was the most she had cried since she was a small child. Or, at least, the most she'd admit to.

"Oh of course! Have you also taught him to steal money like a dirty street rat?" Kyoya yelled at Star accusingly. She looked down. The feeling she held now wasn't one of sadness or shame, but rage. Kyoya thought of her as nothing more than a dirty commoner. She wouldn't stand there and let him insult her anymore.

"'You think I'm a bad person?" Star sized Kyoya up. She kept pressing in towards him.

"Saying, as what you do for fun is illegal and cruel, yes. Yes I do." He answered with a smug look on his face.

"If I had all the money in the world like you do, I wouldn't _have_ to steal. And don't _ever_ call me cruel. There are people on the streets who wouldn't hesitate to slit your throat and take you for all you're worth. I still have morals. 'You think I enjoy stealing from people? Like I don't know what I do is illegal? Either I take money, or I die. My daddy can't pay me through school like yours can. My family doesn't have maids and cooks like yours does to wait on us hand and foot. I live alone and I have to make do.

"Hikaru came to my district one night. I saw him on the street, stole his wallet, and got caught. He asked me to train him to do what I do and I said yes. It's just to make up for him not calling the cops on my ass. It's a stupid, horrible wish to be poor, but I had nothing else to offer. So I hope you're happy. I hope you're all happy. Happy to know that any hopes I had of fitting in or making friends, something I've never had the privilege of doing, have completely gone down the drain. At least you know you'll never have to deal with me again." And she shoved past Kyoya, bumping his shoulder on her way out. Hikaru called her name but she ignored him. Kaoru tried to stop her, grabbing her arm, but she shook him off. Tamaki, Haruhi, and Honey stepped quickly out of her way, fearful that she might become violent. The fire in her eyes suggested the likelihood of that. Mori stood in the way of the trapdoor, not faltering. Star flipped her bangs out of her face and glared up at him defiantly. They stared at each other, the tension rising, until Star suddenly lunged to the side, around Mori and hopped down the trapdoor, ignoring the stairs.

She landed with a thud on her feet in the club room closet. From there she took off running. On her way through the halls to the front door, she heard the bell ring, signifying the start of the day. Masses of kids poured into the halls and engulfed Star in an ocean of teens. Everywhere she looked there were people staring at her and whispering to their friends with their hands shielding their mouths. Not that Star would have been able to hear their words anyway. The noise of chatter in the hall was deafening. She spotted a door on the far side. It had a little window in it from which she could see the courtyard. Star made a mad dash toward it.

Once out in the open she took in a huge breath of air. She realized she was hyperventilating. "Are you alright?" Star heard someone ask. It was a boy, a foot or two taller than her. His hair was a dusty brown color and his eyes were violet blue. He cocked his head to the side.

She held out her arm to keep him at a distance. She closed her eyes and took a breath in through her nose, trying to calm her rattling lungs. When she had composed herself once more, she looked up at the boy who remained standing there. She nodded, "fine, thank you."

"You're new here aren't you? It must be pretty overwhelming. The bell already rang so we should be getting you to class."

"Oh I just want to go ho–"

"What class are you in?" The boy didn't let her finish. He held out his hand as if he expected Star to give him something. She stared at him blankly.

"Your schedule?" He chuckled at her, "You really _must_ be shaken up."

"I've never been to a school like this." Star felt she needed to admit that. She slipped her left shoe off and pulled a folded up square of paper from it. After replacing her shoe to her foot she saw the boy's confused look. "'So I don't lose it," she explained.

"Ah, I see," the boy unfolded the paper and stared at it for a moment. He nodded to himself. "Room four-o-two. English class it seems."

"_English_? The language? I have to learn that?" Star's jaw dropped.

"Everyone does. It looks like you're also signed up for conversational French next semester."

Star groaned loudly. "What building am I going to?"

"It's no use telling you, I'll just walk you there. We're already late, anyway. This way we'll both miss a little more class time." The boy smiled. Star got the feeling he wasn't a very serious student. She let him lead her to a building near the back of campus, across from the elementary school buildings. It amazed Star that all the elementary, middle, and high school buildings would be clustered on one huge plot of land.

They arrived at room four-o-two when the teacher was just getting started with her lecture. The slide on the projector was titled _Phonics_, a word Star wasn't familiar with. The boy talked to the teacher for a few minutes. She was a young woman with dark hair, almost black, and big brown eyes. She was obviously American, _maybe a student teacher or just out of college?_ Star thought.

The boy smiled at the teacher, and then turned to leave class. On his way out he patted Star on the shoulder, "Good luck, new girl!"

In her mind, she had made a new friend. He was the first stranger to be so nice to her. Star was sad to see him go. She thought briefly to the Host Club. How they all seemed so nice, but turned on her the moment the truth came out. She made sure that she smiled at him as he passed. When she looked forward, the teacher was approaching with a happy expression. She had her hair up in a tight bun. She had square glasses with black rims that twinkled in the light from the windows.

"Got a bit lost, did we?" She said with a chuckle. The woman had such an elegant, appropriate beauty that Star wasn't shocked to find herself feeling jealous. Nonetheless, she had no doubts that she would get along well with her new teacher.

Star nodded. _I've never been to school, it's too overwhelming, I don't want to be here, I want to go home_, Star wanted to say. Instead, she plastered on a smile and followed the teacher to her desk.

"That's just fine. We're just happy you made it, right class." The teacher looked at her class with a smile. Star turned to them. She saw many kids she recognized from the halls. Some rolled their eyes, some stared at Star with the look she had become accustomed too since she'd arrived at Ouran, bewilderment mixed with distaste. One girl had fallen asleep at her desk, her head on her arms like a pillow. Among these characters were Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi.

Kaoru looked relived to see her. Hikaru seemed ready to jump out of his seat and grab her. Star briefly envisioned him latching a leash around her wrist like a puppy that kept running out of the yard. She stifled a grin.

A seat behind them sat Haruhi. Though she looked directly at Star, she seemed lost in thought. As if she was contemplating something. Star chose to ignore her. "You can take the empty desk by the window." The teacher said and pointed to a beige desk that matched all the others. It was in the direct sunlight shining in through the window. Star walked to the back, blatantly ignoring the heated stares of the twins, trying to get her attention, boring holes into her back. "We're just about ready to start a new chapter so we'll be copying notes this class. Just grab a notebook or some paper and jump right in! I'm Miss Wilson by the way. I don't think I caught your name?"

"Star Hitachiin," She replied.

The teacher clasped her hands together, "Oh, well we seem to have the whole Hitachiin family in this class then." Miss Wilson grinned and turned to her laptop. She lectured and put notes on the board about phonics and the English language. Star struggled to keep up. Her handwriting was atrocious due to her rarely ever having to write. Things were spelled wrong, there was a severe lack of punctuation, and it looked like a child's work. _I tried my hardest,_ Star consoled to herself.

The bell rang. Star sat at her desk, gathering her supplies, when she saw the twins whispering to Haruhi. All three of them frequently looked back at Star. She huffed and rolled her eyes. She slipped her left shoe off again and reached in for her schedule. Her eyes widened in panic as she searched the floor around her desk, her bag and even her other shoe in search of the vital piece of paper. Relief flooded over her when she remembered that the boy she met still had it, but that faded into more panic when she realized that she had no idea where to find him. Someone tapped on her shoulder. Star almost swung around and backhanded them out habit.

He threw his hands over his face in defense, "Whoa, I just came to return your paper!"

"Hah, sorry, I'm a little jumpy. It's not very nice to sneak up on people," Star grinned like a cat. The boy looked at her with what could only have been confusion or uncomfortableness. He gave her the schedule back. "Thanks," Star saw Hikaru and Kaoru walk over to them.

"Thank you for helping our cousin but we can take it from here," the twins said. A nice way of shooing him off. The boy nodded. He waved to star before walking off. "Who was that?" Kaoru asked her. She wanted to answer but couldn't due to the fact that she didn't know his name.

"I don't know, but he's officially the nicest person to go to this school." Star shuffled her foot over the floor. She bent and picked up a pen someone had dropped, placing it in her bag. Hikaru looked at her, hurt. She pretended like she didn't notice and let them lead her to her next class.

The day went on without anymore drama. At least– until club period.

The twins led Star to the club room once again. "No! No, I'm not going back in! They're just gonna yell at me some more! I don't want to! Help!" She made a huge commotion against going back inside. Enough of a commotion, in fact, to draw the Host Club outside.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, what is she doing back here?" Kyoya asked with serious irritation in his voice. The new girl was turning out to be more trouble for him then he bargained for initially.

"She was just leaving." Star hissed and tugged hard against Hikaru and Kouru's hold on her. They had her arms twisted around so she couldn't bend them enough to push away.

"Is that Star? Good, bring her in." Haruhi was walking toward one of the couches. She sat down and looked at her friends expectantly, waiting for them to carry out their parts of the plan.

Mori picked Star up and slung her over one shoulder. She screamed in exasperation and kicked uselessly. This was not a situation she had been confronted with before. He set her down on the couch across from Haruhi and held her in place by her shoulders. Hikaru came and sat next to her, once again taking hold of one of her arms. She glared daggers at him. "Just a safety precaution," he admitted.

"Trust at its finest I see," Star snorted and flipped her bangs out of her face. She looked at Haruhi hard, "Well? You caught me. What do you want with me?"

"I just want to talk to you," Haruhi said. She smoothed out the creases on her pants.

"Well can you call off the dogs please? I'm not going to spontaneously assault you or anything. If we're going to talk, I'd like it if I weren't being held prisoner."

"Fine." Haruhi looked at Mori who released Star. Hikaru grudgingly let go of her arm. Everyone held their breath, waiting for her to make a run for it. After a few moments, and she didn't move, they all relaxed but didn't let their guard down, just in case.

Haruhi continued, "I wanted to talk to you so I could ask you what exactly was going through your head when you pulled me into that alley."

"Like I said before, I only wanted your wallet. I thought you were a boy, you didn't look like you'd be too hard to intimidate, and I didn't know that you were part if their group. If it's any consolation, I've never regretted targeting anyone more than I regret targeting you."

"Well, thanks? But if you only wanted my wallet, why would you pull a knife?"

"I do it for intimidation only. I've never done any stabbing or serious slicing with that knife, occasionally I let it slip but I swear I didn't do it on purpose! I didn't expect you to fight back! I was really off my game that day..." Star hung her head.

Haruhi looked at her thoughtfully. "But think," Star continued, "you and I aren't very different." That earned a scoff from Kyoya. She glared but kept on, "We're both some degree of poor. We're both being paid through school. When you go to the markets, don't you know exactly how much everything costs? Don't you pick the ten yen ramen instead of the twelve yen ramen because that's two more packs per box. Don't you do the math in your head, trying to figure out how much food you can buy per week and ways you can make it last? Aren't people surprised when they find out you're not actually stupid just because you don't have the best education? You and I know that better than anyone in this whole damn school. I'm just trying to make you understand that I do what I do because it's all I can."

There was silence, then Haruhi said, "I understand. And I forgive you." The hosts gasped.

"Haruhi, you do not have to forgive her, she's a criminal." Kyoya insisted.

Tamaki put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's her choice. Besides, we have to let the customers in."

"If it's all the same, I'd like to go sit on the roof again. I like it up there and I don't want to get in the way." Star didn't wait for permission, she just walked into the closet and disappeared up the stairs again.

* * *

Clubs were over. The final bell had rung. Hikaru mounted the stairs to retrieve Star from the roof. Kyoya beckoned the remaining Hosts into a huddle.

"What's up, Senpai?" Kaoru asked.

"I don't trust her," Kyoya said, "someone who's been stealing their entire life doesn't have morals and surely doesn't belong in our school."

"What are you saying?" Kaoru asked, trying not to sound as hurt as he was. The street-girl had really grown on him since they met. And Hikaru cared for her deeply, so he did too.

"That we need to find evidence that we can use to get her out of school. I can't find any record of her in the system, which isn't a surprise. We'll have to get it ourselves."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Haruhi asked.

"We're going to follow her home."

* * *

**AN: (I had to write this chapter on an iPad as opposed to my laptop like I usually do. That is part of the reason why this chapter took so long and why there may be some errors in this chapter. I'm not very good with these iPad things...) I realize that this chapter has taken me what feels like three weeks to post and I can't apologize more. I absolutely detest taking so long to post chapters, so thank you for putting up with this. Thank you to those of you that posted reviews on Chapter 8 that I never got back to. I hope it was worth the wait! ~Yuki-mu**


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